{"id":4458,"date":"2026-03-22T14:14:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T21:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hopelcs.ca\/church\/?p=4458"},"modified":"2026-03-28T20:52:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T03:52:53","slug":"a-pleasant-life-romans-81-8-john-11-march-22nd-2026-fifth-sunday-in-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hopelcs.ca\/church\/a-pleasant-life-romans-81-8-john-11-march-22nd-2026-fifth-sunday-in-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA pleasant life\u201d \/ Romans 8:1-8; John 11 \/ March 22nd, 2026 \/ Fifth Sunday in Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermon \u2013 March 22nd<\/sup>, 2026
\n<\/strong>Hope Lutheran Church, Port Coquitlam BC
\n<\/strong>Romans 8:1-8; John 11
\n<\/strong>Theme: \u201cA pleasant life\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\n

____________________________<\/p>\n

Intr<\/strong> \u2013 In my sermon today I decided I wanted to please you all. I made my best guess \u2014 here’s what I came up with:<\/p>\n

A broom \u2014 for the women present today. I love cleaning the house every other week, so I thought that you would too.
\nA soccer ticket \u2014 for the men with us. I love soccer, it’s so much fun.
\nThe Concordia Triglotta \u2014 for all who love reading. I love reading theology, so I thought you\u2019d enjoy reading theology in three languages.
\nThe biography of Paul Gerhardt \u2014 for our musicians. I love the history of Lutheran composers, so I thought you’d love it.
\nAnd a chore list of 5 items \u2014 for the kids. Those are chores I think are important, so I’m sure the kids will agree.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s that? Do you think I would succeed?<\/p>\n

Of course not. And did you notice something? Every single time I said: “since I love it, I thought you would too.”<\/em> I made it all about me. I don’t actually know you well enough to know what would make you happy.\u00a0 I would have needed to stop making it about me \u2014 and start making it about you. To actually know you.<\/p>\n

Because here\u2019s the truth: If you don’t know the person well, you don’t know how to please them correctly.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 \u2013 Whom to please?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In life sometimes we want or need to please people around us. And we usually know different ways to please different people in different contexts. For example: our Boss, our Parents, our Children, our Friends\u2026 In doing so, we try to figure out what in their perception will be perceived as appreciation, not just what we would appreciate in their place. Sometimes is easy; sometimes is tricky. But we will usually look through their lenses to find the best option.<\/p>\n

When it comes to pleasing God though, we don\u2019t always get that right. If you wanted to please God, you would probably do the same \u2013 you\u2019d ask, \u201cwhat is it that is God pleasing?\u201d \u00a0Now, we can only know how to please God if He know him well. That\u2019s why some of the things we may try may not land as we intended.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one of the classics: \u201cI don\u2019t kill and I don\u2019t steal, and I pay all my debts, so that should be enough to get me to heaven.\u201d Or we try to be nice and good, at least when people are looking. Or we allow ourselves to get into situations and attitudes that are disconnected from our values.\u00a0 Or we latch on to every single new wave of morals and ethics because it seems to be the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

How can we please the Lord if we don\u2019t really dive deep into what pleases him?<\/em><\/p>\n

But here is what Paul wants us to understand: this isn’t simply a knowledge problem. It’s not that we just need better information about God’s preferences. The issue runs deeper than that. Flesh and Spirit are not just two different sets of behaviours \u2014 they are two fundamentally different orientations of the self. The mind set on the flesh, Paul says, is hostile to God. It cannot submit. You cannot think or try or discipline your way out of that. The flesh-mind is hostile and cannot submit (Rom 8.7) \u2014 this explains why law alone fails. We couldn\u2019t find our way out \u2014 so God had to act (Rom 8.3). And that is what makes grace not merely convenient, but astonishing.<\/p>\n

2 \u2013 God is pleased with us<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is something else to be considered here. What would happen if God waited to be pleased with us first, in order to be pleased to be favorable towards us only after that? The answer is: nothing<\/em>. Not even all the gold and diamonds in the world would pull that trick.<\/p>\n

Paul is clear: we cannot please God with gifts of the flesh. There is nothing in our words, thoughts and deeds that can make us worthy of anything before God. This is why it is important to look at our lives and fight the inclinations that lead us the wrong way. We can only please God when we live in the Spirit.<\/p>\n

Which is exactly why God didn’t send a better rulebook. He sent his Son.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul says there is no Condemnation for those in Jesus. This silences the voice that says you are not enough. You keep failing. God must be tired of you.<\/em> The apostle opens chapter 8 with the most extraordinary word in response to it: therefore<\/em>. Everything he has argued for seven chapters \u2014 the reality of sin, the failure of the law to fix us, the desperate need for rescue \u2014 all of it comes to a point right here. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.<\/em> Not: condemnation is reduced. Not: condemnation is manageable. No condemnation. None. And notice the word now<\/em> \u2014 this is not a verdict waiting to be delivered at the end. It has already been rendered. In Christ, the case is closed. The verdict is already in<\/p>\n

He saw our sinful condition and decided to come to meet us where we are. In the epistle to Romans that we heard today we learn that Christ took on human form to do what we could never do. In his cross and resurrection, He:<\/p>\n

_swept away all condemnation from our lives;
\n_knitted together our hearts broken by sin and made us children of God;
\n-Gave us his Spirit to empower us to live our faith;
\n-Our lives are faith filled and God directed.<\/p>\n

He did this work of love so that everyone, each human being without exception, could be offered this unfathomable love for their lives. When we are in faith in Him, we are free from condemnation. We are at peace with God, living as children. Now we can live a pleasant life before Him. A life of those who do not seek to save themselves, but to put their trust and hope in Him, and whose lives will then reflect this salvation in daily life.<\/p>\n

God is not pleased at our hands first (That is, what we can do for Him). He is pleased at our hearts \u2014 what He did for us. An He gets there through Jesus.<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Pleasing God<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut pastor, does it mean pleasing God is completely off the table?\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not. We heard that last Sunday, remember? \u201cWhat is pleasing to God\u201d(Ephesians 5). Once we know that God is pleased at us in Jesus, we will strive for a life pleasing to Him. And what makes this possible is Spirit. The law of the Spirit of life has set you free.<\/em> The Spirit is not just an idea \u2014 it is power and movement.[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Spirit is not just an idea, but power and movement, The Holy Spirit of God guides you and empowers you.<\/p>\n

-Light, not darkness.
\n-Love, not indifference.
\n-Real, not performed.<\/p>\n

It is Spirit, not flesh. Fruit, not chores. For example:<\/p>\n